Nouns used with SINGULAR verb ONLY (IS, WAS, HAS)

accommodation, advice, anger, applause, assistance, baggage, behaviour, bread,

business, chaos, chess, coffee, courage, countryside, currency, difficulty, dirt, doubt,
education, equipment, evidence, fear, furniture, grass, homework, housework,
information, intelligence, hope, justice, knowledge, lightning, luck, luggage, money,
music, news, nonsense, peace, pleasure, poetry, progress, publicity, research, rubbish,
seaside, shopping, spaghetti, thunder, traffic, travel, trouble, truth, work, wealth +

- subjects of study: Physics, Mathematics

- games: billiards
- sports: gymnastics
- illnesses: mumps, measles, diabetes + IS, WAS

In order to express a quantity of one of these nouns, we use different words or phrases
( making uncountable nouns countable):
pile/heap of papers, clothes, toys, dishes
stack of chairs, tables, boxes
bunch of flowers, grapes, bananas, berries
gang of fans
set of tools
flock of sheep/birds
herd of cows/elephants/deer/goats
tube of toothpaste
shoal of fish/mackerel/herring
swarm of insects/bees
gaggle of geese
row of cottages
range of mountains/hills
group of islands
clump of trees
spell of summer
block of ice
speck of dust
rumble/clap of thunder
shower/spot of rain
gust of wind
puff/cloud of smoke
breath of fresh air
lump of coal/sugar
a bar of chocolate/soap
a carton of milk
a loaf of bread/ meat
a piece/an item of news/ information
a slice of bread/ beef
Some of these nouns can be used with a plural verb, but with a different meaning:

Acoustics is a branch of knowledge. (science)

The acoustics of this hall have been made in an interesting way. (acoustic quality)

customs (at the airport, not practices), guts (courage, not intestines)
quarters (lodgings, not 1/4s), clothes (garments, not fabrics)
goods (merchandise, not the opposite of bad), arms (weapons, not limb)

Nouns that can be both countable and uncountable: coffee, hope, hair, paper, pepper,
glass, cloth, fish, work

C: There are two hairs in my soup.

U: Long hair is feminine.

C: He ordered two coffees.

U: I like coffee very much.

Nouns used with PLURAL verbs only (ARE/ WERE/HAVE)

1. Names of clothes: pyjamas, jeans, tights, trousers, leggings, shorts, etc. These
nouns are used with : a pair of

2. Names of tools: scissors, pliers, pincers, tweezers, tongs, binoculars, scales,

handcuffs, shears, glasses, spectacles, etc

3. and others, such as: arms, ashes, barracks, belongings, clothes, earnings,
lodgings, goods, foundations, premises, authorities, acoustics, contents, looks,
outskirts, traffic lights, savings, stairs, customs, manners, stairs, wages,
whereabouts, eaves, riches, congratulations, thanks, contents, auspices,
proceeds, proceedings, valuables, goods, archives, ashes, arms, funds, odds,
oats, spirits, headquarters, surroundings, thanks, wages, the Middle Ages, cattle,
people, police, cattle, poultry, vermin, clergy. (When ‘’poultry’’ is used with the
sense of meat it is used in the singular: Poultry is cheaper than pork.)

The surroundings are very beautiful.

The proceedings were interrupted by the fire alarm.
The police are after him.
 4. Nouns denoting parts of the body: bowels, tonsils, entrails: His bowels are very
sensitive.
5. Nouns denoting states of mind: hysterics, blues, spirits: High spirits are always
appreciated, while hysterics are not at all valued.
6. Proper names in the plural: the Highlands, the Alps, the Netherlands: The Alps
are very high mountains.
7. Nouns derived from adjectives: valuables, goods, perishables, the rich, the poor,
the needy, the dead.

Collective Nouns are used either with a sg or with a pl verb: army, audience, committee,
community, company, council, crew, enemy, family, flock, gaggle ( of geese), gang,
government, group, herd, jury, navy, press, public, staff, team, etc

My family is large. (as a whole)

My family are at home. (members)

Nouns that have the same form for both sg and pl:

- some countable nouns have the same plural and singular form. The most
common ones are nouns ending in –s/-es:: crossroads, headquarters, means,
series, sheep, species, works (= factory, factories)

This crossroads is really dangerous for cyclists. OR

The crossroads of Budapest are always busy.

This is a busy crossroads.

There are several crossroads here.

This means of communication is expensive. OR

These means of communication are expensive.

There is a useful means of accomplishing this.

There are several means of accomplishing this.

There is a new Brazilian series on TV. OR

 There are new series every day.

I am interested in this species of fish.

These species of fish are very rare.

The corporation's headquarters are in Boston.

Division headquarters has approved the new benefits package. (when reference
is to authority rather than to physical location, many people prefer the singular)

- animal names: fruit, fish, sheep, deer, salmon, trout,

His favourite was a big, white sheep.

The sheep were grazing in the field.

With some of these nouns, we use THE PLURAL to denote different species or
individuals: We studied all the fishes of the Atlantic.

- nationalities ending in -ese: Chinese, Japanese, Purtuguese, etc

A Chinese was looking at us. The two Chinese were looking at us.

- nouns denoting measurement, quantity, number: dozen, hundred, million, score,

stone:

One dozen eggs/ A hundred of people is enough.

Two dozen eggs/ Three hundred of people are enough.

Nouns coming from Latin and Greek:

stratum-strata, larva-larvae, datum-data, criterion-criteria, phenomenon-phenomena,

curriculum – curricula, basis-bases, crisis-crises